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The History of the Festival
The History of the Sundance Film Festival Event from its inception to present day. Early History of the Sundance Institute's Festival In 1985, the Utah/US Film Festival was officially acquired by the Sundance Institute. By this time, the Sundance Institute was well-resourced and well-acknowledged in its pursuit of bringing together independent filmmakers. The Festival grew enormously in the eye of the public, reaching far more filmmakers than it did without the help of the institute. In 1985, the festival screened 85 films.Sundance Institute. (n.d.). "1985 Sundance Film Festival" Retrieved April 16, 2018 By 1991, the date of the official Sundance name-change, that number had increased to 129. To accommodate this, the festival also increased in categorical size, with 10 awards in 1985 and 12 awards in 1991. This number would almost triple by present day.Sundance Institute. (n.d.). "'18 Sundance Film Festival - Award Winners". Retrieved April 16, 2018 Besides the institute, a big factor in the success of the festival were the filmmakers who attended it. Throughout, the 80s as the blockbuster took over, the independent film took a very big hit. Film had been overcome with the political correctness and feel-good notions of the era. In fact, by 1987, it was thought of by John Powers of Film Comment that the Sundance Film Festival was only interesting for "the skiing and the parties", and that the independent film had "settled into a complacent mediocrity whose axiom is 'Play it safe.' "(Biskin, 2007, p.29)Biskin, P. (2007). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. USA: Bloomsbury. However, all of this would change with the arrival of one visionary director who wasn't afraid to push boundaries again. His name was Steven Soderbergh. His film, sex, lies, and videotape, almost didn't make it into the festival. There was serious pushback from the festival due to the tone and content of the film. However, Soderbergh's film was a massive success for the festival, launching his career, rejuvenating the festival atmosphere, and bringing to light the rising distribution company, Miramax. The festival would only get more renowned in the years that followed. 1991 to 1996 1991 was a big year for the Sundance Institute, and for film in general. To start with, this was the year that the name of the festival was officially changed to the Sundance Film Festival. After sex, lies, and videotape, the festival needed one more big push to truly solidify itself as a premiere festival for independent filmmaker. And after a lackluster start, 1991 delivered those films greatly. Smith, L. (1999). Party in a box: The story of the Sundance Film Festival. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher.Between films like Slacker by Richard Linklater and City of Hope by John Sayle, the festival's film culture began to truly surpass the political correctness that had overtaken it. However, there was one film in particular that really made waves. That film was Poison by Todd Haynes, an anthology-type film involving strong themes of homosexuality. This film both brought riskiness back to the festival, and inspired the age of New Queer Cinema. Throughout the years, Sundance would end up premiering many universally-acclaimed films, such as Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino, Clerks ''by Kevin Smith, and ''Four Weddings and a Funeral ''by Mike Newell. Submissions to the festival exploded in numbers very quickly, from 375 in 1995 to 750 in 1996. And that's just for feature films. Sundance Institute. (n.d.). "'33 Years of the Sundance Film Festival". Retrieved April 16, 2018 The number for short films was almost double that. In fact, 1996 was also a big year for Sundance. Independent filmmaking itself had seen another great swell in the 90s, and this showed in the festival. Besides the doubled number of films, the quality had also increased greatly. This led to a higher number of films being bought. As described by Geoff Gilmore, "1996, the ''Shine ''year distribution scandal between Fine Light and Miramax for the year's most talked about film, was a nodal point. the year in which more things were sold in six days than had been sold the whole year and a half before." However, there was another great advancement in the Sundance Institute this year, and that was the creation of the Sundance Channel. This channel was supposed to be a cable service that delivered independent and foreign films to audiences all around the world. This channel started out very slow due to the divide between tv managers and cinephiles. Sundance Channel would later be rebranded as Sundance TV, and add regular reality and drama television, including the critically-acclaimed Rectify.Rogen, Lisa. “AMC Announces Rectify as New Series in Development.” ''AMC Networks Inc., 11 Nov. 2008, www.amcnetworks.com/press-releases/amc-announces-rectify-as-new-series-in-development. 1996 to Present Day After the success of the 1996 festival, Sundance had their work cut out for them. The 1997 Sundance Film Festival saw a new challenge: increasing competition. As stated by Nicole Guillemet and Geoff Gilmore, "The bad news is that most of these productions will never see the light of day, and only a small percentage of them will enjoy even broadcast, cable, or video release. The competition for distribution is increasingly intense, and the task of the Sundance Film Festival is truly formidable."Because of the this, the film world saw the creation of two "renegade" film festivals, Slamdance and Slumdance. Smith, L. (1999). Party in a box: The story of the Sundance Film Festival. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher.Another notable advancement seen this year was the creation of Sundance Cinema, an idea by Robert Redford to have cinemas specifically for screening foreign and independent films. This was a short-lived pursuit, from 2007 to 2015. By 1998, the festival had become a shining, independent beacon in the world of film. Movies like The '' ''Real Blonde by Tom Dicillo, The Big Lebowski ''by The Coen Brothers, and ''Pi by Darren Arrenofsky were shown that year. The following years saw an even greater rise of attendees, submitted films, and award categories in the festival. By the late 2000s, Sundance was the place to be for rising independent filmmakers. Notable films that have screened at the festival since 1998 are Saw by James Wan, Little Miss Sunshine' '''''by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, ''Winter's Bone ''by Debra Granik, and many many more.Sundance Institute. (n.d.). "33 Years of Sundance Film Festival". Retrieved April 16, 2018 Concerning Robert Redford's other ventures, SundanceTV would go on to be bought by AMC and produce the Peabody-Award-winning Rectify. Sundance Cinema would have a decent run of 8 years until they were eventually also bought out by AMC. The Sundance festival today continues to be a bright light in the world of cinema, and it looks like it will be that way for a very long time. ---------------